Last week, Pokémon Go was released and it pretty much broke the Internet. Pokémon Go is a new app that has been under rigorous development for years and it is finally here. This game has flowered into such a global phenomenon because it allows users from the “Pokémon Era” to live out their dreams of being a version of the character Ash from their favorite television show by becoming a Pokémon trainer themselves. In addition, it is considered to be one of the first mobile augmented reality apps available which means that the player can travel between both the real world and the virtual world of Pokémon as they have similar environments. The app uses real life locations to encourage players to find and catch more than a hundred species of Pokémon and you can even put your Pokémon into battle with other players depending on your rank.

With all this in mind, there are a multitude of reasons people claim to love this game. Firstly, it allows you to make friends and have a common interest with others by joining different teams: Valor, Mystic, and Instinct. It forces frequent video gamers to actually go outside and exercise because you have to walk a certain distance to actually catch a Pokémon and/or to hatch an egg. Finally, it plays on gamer’s competitive sides as you can battle other teams and claim certain territories for your own like when you win over a Pokémon “gym” from another team. All of this sounds great on paper but I gotta say I just don’t get it. I’m tired of hearing about Pokémon Go because I just don’t see what the big deal is. I mean as far as I can tell there is no clear winner of the game and basically all you do is battle rival team members in order to gain ownership of a certain piece of land in the real world. But what’s the point? Shortly after, another team can just sweep in there and take the gym back from you and then you just enter this never ending battle with a rival team over pretend owning a plot of land in the real world. Sure, you can find and hatch other Pokémon but they don’t physically do anything. All you can do is battle them and it’s not actually exciting to watch.

I don’t know, call me crazy but I truly just don’t get it. People get upset with me when I say I don’t and won’t play and I think that’s ridiculous. It’s the first time I’ve ever been, for lack of a better word, ostracized for not playing a video game simply because most people my age are playing it. Not only do I not want to play it because I don’t really see the incentive and motivation to, it’s also very dangerous. There have been many reports of people dying or getting injured while playing the game. Call me crazy but once people start to die playing a video game, it lowers my incentive to play that game.

So for any of you out there who don’t really get the Pokémon Go craze that is happening out there, just know that you’re not alone. I commend you for going against the grain and not “jumping on the bandwagon” like so many others have already done. Stay strong, as we will soon be the only people on the planet who don’t have the desire to “Catch ‘em all.”